St Luke's is a historic
Anglican church building in
central London, and in the
London Borough of Islington
The London Borough of Islington ( ) is a London borough in Inner London. Whilst the majority of the district is located in north London, the borough also includes a significant area to the south which forms part of central London. Islington has ...
. It served as a parish church from 1733 to 1959. It was designed by
John James and
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
, and is a
Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Following closure in 1959, the church stood derelict and roofless for some 40 years, but since 2003 has been a music centre operated by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
and known as LSO St Luke's. It is the home of the LSO's community and music education programme, LSO Discovery. The main body of the building seats up to 372 and is used by the LSO for rehearsals, and by a wide variety of musicians for performances and recording. Additional rooms in the crypt provide practice facilities for professional musicians, students and community groups.
History
The church is sited on
Old Street
Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...
, north of the
City of London
The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...
. It was built to relieve the City church of
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...
,
Cripplegate
Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London.
The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into ...
, under the
Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, an attempt to meet the religious needs of London's burgeoning 18th-century population. The
ancient parish of St Giles lay partly within the City and partly outside its boundaries in
Middlesex
Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...
: under the Commissioners' scheme these two parts were to be separated, with the Middlesex portion (historically the
Manor of Finsbury) becoming a new
parish of St Luke's. Construction began in 1727 and was completed in 1733, when the church was consecrated on 18 October (
St Luke's day), and the parish detached from that of St Giles.
The architects were the joint salaried surveyors to the Commission,
John James and
Nicholas Hawksmoor
Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...
. James is thought to have been responsible for the body of the church, and Hawksmoor for the west tower, the flanking staircase wings, and the
obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
spire (a most unusual feature for an Anglican church).
[Downes 1960.] The spire was topped by an unusual
weather vane
A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...
depicting the head of a
dragon with a fiery
comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...
-like tail: this was misinterpreted locally as a
louse, and by the mid-20th century had gained the church the nickname "lousy St Luke's".
The church stood on often waterlogged ground, near the (historically) notoriously marshy
Moorfields
Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting like a dam, ...
area, and from an early date (but particularly from the beginning of the 20th century) suffered from problems of
subsidence.
The effects of the subsidence remain visible in the distorted shapes of the windows on the north side of the building.
Burials
Burials in the small churchyard included:
*
Mark Catesby
Mark Catesby (24 March 1683 – 23 December 1749) was an English naturalist who studied the flora and fauna of the New World. Between 1729 and 1747 Catesby published his ''Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands'', the fi ...
(1683–1749), naturalist. His grave is lost.
*
William Caslon
William Caslon I (1692/1693 – 23 January 1766), also known as William Caslon the Elder,Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was an English typefounder. The distinction and legibility of his type secured him the patronage of the leading ...
the elder (1692/1693–1766),
type founder, his son
William Caslon II (1720–1778) and other members of the family. They are commemorated by a listed chest tomb.
*
George Dance the Elder
George Dance the Elder (1695 – 8 February 1768) was a British architect. He was the City of London surveyor and architect from 1735 until his death.
Life
Originally a mason, George Dance was appointed Clerk of the city works to the City of ...
(1695–1768), architect, and at one time a member of the
vestry
A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...
. His grave is lost.
In preparation for the conversion of the church into a music centre, the crypt was cleared of burials in the year 2000. A total of 1053 burials were archaeologically recorded, removed, and reburied at
Brookwood Cemetery
Brookwood Cemetery, also known as the London Necropolis, is a burial ground in Brookwood, Surrey, England. It is the largest cemetery in the United Kingdom and one of the largest in Europe. The cemetery is listed a Grade I site in the Regi ...
, Surrey. A television documentary, "Changing Tombs" (2001), recorded the process.
Deconsecration and reuse
In 1959, in response to structural problems at the church resulting from subsidence, and to a declining inner-city population, the
Diocese of London closed St Luke's and the parish was re-absorbed into that of
St Giles-without-Cripplegate
St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to S ...
.
[Purcell Miller Tritton 2000, pp. 19, 43.] The following year the font and organ case were moved to St Giles' church, the
reredos and altar rails to
St Andrew Holborn, and the roof was removed for safety reasons.
The crypt was bricked up in 1964. The empty shell of St Luke's became a dramatic ruin for some 40 years, overgrown with trees, despite being a Grade I
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
After several controversial proposals to redevelop offices inside the retained walls, it was converted by the St Luke Centre Management Company Ltd for the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
as a
concert hall, rehearsal and recording space, and educational resource. The conversion was designed by Axel Burrough at London architects
Levitt Bernstein
Levitt Bernstein is an architecture, landscape architecture and urban design practice established in 1968 by David Levitt and David Bernstein with studios in London and Manchester. Levitt Bernstein's long-standing commitment to housing and urban de ...
, who installed a heavy concrete slab roof which keeps out traffic noise from the nearby road. Though this is similar in profile to the former eighteenth-century roof, its great weight is supported on tall steel columns inside the hall described by the designer as "tree-like". The interior acoustic can be varied for different events, from full orchestra to soloists, by the use of absorbent surfaces that unroll like blinds across the ceiling and down the walls, whilst the seating and staging are also highly flexible. Work was completed in 2002, and the centre was brought into use early in 2003.
Special events
The venue regularly hosts open rehearsals by the
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orc ...
in advance of concerts at the nearby
Barbican Hall
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhib ...
, and has pioneered genre-busting events such as the Eclectica series, which combines classical, jazz, experimental and electronic sound-worlds.
Junior Trinity, the junior department of
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...
have also performed at LSO St Luke's as part of their seasonal concerts with their Symphony Orchestra, Wind Orchestra, Sinfonia, Big Band, and other notable groups.
During 2006 the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.